Spreader guide roll



July 12, 1955 s. w. WARNER SPREADER GUIDE ROLL Filed Nov. 24, 1953 il'nited States Patent Otce zflll Patented July 12, i955 SREADER GUDE RLL Appiication November 24, 1953, Serial No. 394,195 12 Claims. (Ci. 26-63) The present invention relates to an improved spreader guide roll and, more particularly, to a spreader guide roll comprising a plurality of rigid sleeves positioned along a bowed shaft which sleeves rotate as a single unit.

The use of spreader guide rolls has become extensive in the textiie, paper and plastic film industries wherein the rolls may be used to transversely stretch a fabric, paper sheet or iilm traveling thereover, to prevent wrinkling of the same during the chemical or mechanical processing steps. They may also be used to prevent the paper, sheet or lilm from shrinking. In addition, the rolls may be used on coating machines, such as cellophane coaters, to prevent the iilm from Wrinkling after the coating has been applied to the hlm and to insure uniformity of coating thickness. The spreader rolls generally in use today are or" the type whereby a iiexible covering such as a rubber sleeve is positioned over the bowed shaft and inner structure of the roll to provide a uniform, continuous, and unbroken roll surface. Although these spreader or expander guide rolls have proved satisfactory for these purposes, an extremely vexing problem has arisen in that the roll coverings frequently have to be replaced. The cover surfaces of the rolls are easily damaged due to the constant wearing eifect on the exible covers by the material traveling thereover, or to the etching eifect of certain chemical agents such as strong acids which are present in or on the sheet material traveling over the rolls. The expense incurred in the frequent replacement of these rolls in addition to the loss of production time involved in effecting the cover changeover somewhat limits the use of these spreader rolls.

lt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a spreader guide roll which may be used over long periods of time without replacement or repair.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved spreader guide roll which is not subject to damage due to frictional contact with the fabric or paper traveling thereover and which is resistant to the deleterious action of chemical agents.

it is a further object of the invention to provide in a spreader guide roll helical spring sleeve separators which are fitted around the sleeve mountings to provide a gripping or clutching action between the mountings and the sleeves.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide in a spreader guide roll helical spring sleeve separators which have their roll surface sides liattened so that they lie iiush with the peripheral surfaces of the sleeves.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the spreader roll and from the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a View of the spreader guide roll with a portion of the roll broken away;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, partly sectioned, fragmentary view of the spreader guide roll showing a portion of the inner construction thereof and the driving means therefor; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional fragmentary view of the spreader guide roll showing in greater detail a portion of the inner structure of the roll.

Referring now to the drawings, the spreader guide roll assembly A comprises a bowed or curved shaft 1 on which a plurality of short, rigid sleeves 2, 2 of metal or synthetic plastic are positioned in endwise relationship. To provide a continuous, unbroken roll surface and to unite the sleeves into a single roll unit, adjacent counterbored ends of individual sleeves 2, 2 are fitted upon ball bearing assemblies 10, 10 which in turn are positioned around iianged bushings 11, 11 iitted on shaft 1 and held in place against rotation by key 12 aiiixed to the shaft. A flexible connector 3, fitted around and supported by the outer races 13, 13 of bearing assemblies 10, 16, provides a driving connection between the sleeves 2, 2 and the outer bean'ng races 13, 13 of each set,

sleeves 2. 2. The spacer 14 supports the connector 3 to prevent its sagging. In the same manner, the connectors 3, 3 connect the remaining steel sleeves together so that the helical spring connectors 3, flattened by grinding so that they are iiush with the peripheral surface of the sleeves 2, 2 to provide a uniform and even surfaced roll.

adjacent sleeves 2, ture of the roll, the spring connectors 3, 3 will be in a somewhat more open or spread condition on the convex portion B of roll A than on the concave roll portion C (Figure 3).

One end of roll A is shown sectionally in Figure 2. To drive the roll A, a drive pulley 5 is pressed onto each terminal of sleeve 2. A sleeve supporting bearing assembly 19 is positioned between the counterbored end of sleeve 2 and the tianged bushing 11 secured to the 12 for supporting the ends sleeves and for counteracting any strain placed thereupon by the drive belt. A collar l5, next to bushing 11 and secured to shaft 1 by set screw 16, prevents the bushings 11 from creeping toward the end of shaft 1 during rotation of the sleeves. As seen in Figure l, a second drive pulley 5 is positioned on the opposite end of roll A and has a similar supporting structure as described above. lt should be noted, however, that it is not necessary to provide driving means for the roll since the roll may be rotated merely by the frictional contact of the traveling thereover.

In assembling the spreader roll, the shaft 1 is bowed before the bushings 11, 11 and bearing assemblies 10, 10 are positioned thereover. The horizontal dotted line i in Figure l drawn lengthwise of the roll A, as compared with the roller face, indicates the line of curvature of shaft 1. The ends of shaft 1 extending beyond the endmost sleeves 2, 2 are not bent or bowed as is the remainder of the shaft in order that the shaft may be mounted in aligned supports.

With the present invention, there is provided a bowed I claim: l. A spreader guide roll assembly comprising a bowed galassi El shaft, a plurality of rigid sleeves journaled on said shaft, and a short, resilient driving connector between each adjacent pair of sleeves, said connectors being of substantially the same outside diameter as the sleeves.

2. A guide roll in accordance with claim l comprising annular ball bearing assemblies positioned over the shaft, sleeves pressed partially across the outer races of the bearing assemblies, and resilient driving connectors pressed onto the remaining uncovered portions of the outer bearing races of different adjacent sleeves to provide a driving connection between the sleeves.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 having sleevelike spacers positioned between the bearing assemblies of dierent sleeves for supporting the resilient driving connectors, said spacers having an outside diameter substantially equal to the outside diameter of the outer bearing races.

4. A guide roll in accordance with clairn 1 having means on at least one terminal sleeve for driving all the sleeves as a unit.

5. Apparatus in accordance With claim 3 in which the resilient driving connectors are helical springs.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which the resilient driving connectors are helical springs having a attened outer surface.

7. A spreader guide roll according to claim l wherein the rigid sleeves comprise synthetic plastic sleeves.

8. A spreader guide roll according to claim l the rigid sleeves comprise metal sleeves.

9. A spreader guide roll comprising a bowed shaft, a key afiixed to the shaft, flanged bushings fitted along the shaft and held in place by the key, bearing assemblies positioned around the bushings, rigid sleeves positioned @ver the bearing assemblies, and helical spring sleeve driving connectors positioned around the bearing assemblies of different sleeves to provide a driving connection between the sleeves.

lf3. A spreader guide roll according to clairn 9 comprising helical spring connectors which have had their surface sides attened so that they are ush with the peripheries of the sleeves.

li. A spreader guide roll according to claim 9 comprising spacers positioned between the bearing assemblies of different sleeves to support the helical spring connectors to prevent sagging.

l2. A spreader guide roll assembly comprising a bowed shaft, a plurality of sleeves journalled on said shaft, and a short resilient drive connector between each adjacent pair of sleeves.

wherein Cited the le of this patent UNl'l`i'D STATES PATENTS 829,805 Sackville Aug. 28, 1906 1,668,994 `VJeiss-Oeschger May 8, 1928 

